From God of Lies to Lord of All Worlds

Chapter 286: A Sonata of Death and a New Beginning

The sounds of slaughter slowly drifted into Bai Yang's ears.

The Zashiki-warashi, which was originally supposed to bring happiness and wealth to a family, now looked no different from a terrifying ghost.

Bai Yang turned his head away. He did not particularly care to know the full extent of the massacre. After all, a family capable of causing the consecutive deaths of over a dozen children could not harbor any innocents, and even if they did, those innocents would not be in that house—and besides, what did it matter even if there were?

If you enjoyed the power and luxurious lifestyle provided by your family, and then genuine retribution arrived, could you really claim innocence just by pleading ignorance?

There was no such convenience in this world!

Thus, he shifted his gaze back to the second supernatural monster, the Hashihime.

He had to admit, there truly was an abundance of ghosts and monsters in Japanese legends. No wonder there were tales of the Hundred Demon Night Parade. It seemed that aside from cities and villages, most places were essentially the domains of these supernatural entities!

The manifestation of the Hashihime seemed quite typical. According to legend, this was a special monster formed from the converged resentment of infatuated women or courtesans.

They were all women who had died in these waters, throwing themselves into the river to drown because they could not be with their true loves or because jealousy drove them over the edge, ultimately transforming into a Hashihime.

At night, she would drag down every man who passed by, and she would pull any beautiful woman into the water as well. She was essentially a unique type of vengeful ghost, the purest of evil spirits, representing the ultimate slaughter!"Tsk, what a sick freak! Such a twisted existence wasn't even born from simple resentment, but a monster catalyzed by her own obsession!" Bai Yang chuckled in amusement. He had initially thought this was a powerful vengeful soul, but it turned out to be a peculiar resentful ghost.

The reason for her death was that her boyfriend had gone bankrupt and could no longer provide the money she needed to obsessively chase after her favorite idols. Unable to attain the satisfaction of fanboying and the "happiness" of being flattered by others in that circle, she chose to end her own life by jumping into the river!

The most absurd part was that despite her boyfriend spending a fortune to fund her idol obsession, she had never let him touch her even once. Conversely, she threw herself at the male fans she met on the idol-chasing trail with absolute delight.

"She wants to kill her own boyfriend now? Just because he can't give her more money for idol chasing?" Bai Yang was utterly dumbfounded. "And this man is working himself to the bone to pay off debts, hoping to scrape together enough money for his girlfriend's next concert ticket? He doesn't even know she's dead?"

The fleeting thought Bai Yang had of saving the man instantly vanished.

Better to respect the fates of others. A guy like that probably wouldn't even appreciate being saved...

But in the end, Bai Yang could not help but mutter, "Simps really deserve to die!"

The reason this woman had become a Hashihime was clearly the direct consequence of this man's endless pampering and enabling!

"Crown, our plan is taking effect. As expected, these yokai and ghosts are the first vessels to attract Wish Power!" Alvin declared with a sigh of relief. "Your plan is a success!"

Bai Yang shook his head. "It's not that my plan succeeded. It's because this realm itself is twisted, maddening, and brimming with malice. Every single person hides a massive amount of this malevolence in their hearts, and that is what allowed these yokai to manifest!"

This was the societal reality of Japan. This nation, which appeared clean, tidy, and perfectly orderly on the surface, was actually riddled with gaping wounds, toxic down to its very core!

The youth had no way out. The wages earned in large cities weren't enough to cover rent, and working in smaller towns didn't even pay enough to survive. Those lucky enough to enter large corporations found themselves trapped in the culture of lifetime employment, toiling exhaustingly without making an inch of progress.

Thus, they chose self-exile, surviving on instant noodles and video games, hiding in the dark corners of society as they helplessly waited to rot.

The middle-aged lived in destitution. With companies cutting salaries, the crushing pressure of mortgages, living expenses, and tuition fees weighed heavily on them. They had to support the elderly and carry the future of their families on their backs, all while forcing a smile to endure endless overtime.

The high-pressure workplace, mounting household expenses, and the trap of mandatory overtime caused their mortality rates—especially suicide rates—to skyrocket. As for those who remained alive, they were left with nothing but sorrow and despair!

As for the elderly, the inadequacy of their pensions and the struggles of their children rendered them an entirely forgotten generation. They couldn't afford medical care when sick, lacked enough food to eat, and couldn't pay for housing. It had even devolved into a trend of "prison retirement."

However, those who chose to commit crimes for prison retirement were still a minority. Most lacked the courage to break the law, leaving them no choice but to continue working. Even well into their eighties, they remained wage laborers until one day they simply couldn't get up anymore, dying in complete isolation.

The terrifying societal pressure was the most concentrated flow of information Bai Yang had read from this city and this entire country.

It was like a blunt knife, slowly slicing through everything in this nation, gradually pushing the country into a horrifying abyss. And the true essence of this society's collapse was because this realm had completely lost its "ladder of upward mobility." At the very top lay the blade of Ameri, harvesting everything this country had, stripping away the greatest profits and dignity, and forcing them to bear an even more disastrous economic burden!

In the middle were the Kazoku, the capitalists, and the financial conglomerates. They firmly controlled the vast majority of the country's resources. Because they themselves were being harvested from above, their oppression of the lower classes became even more profound and ruthless!

As for the bottom layer, it consisted of the common people who had been thoroughly numbed by three decades of relentless exploitation.

The youth escaped, the elderly were abandoned, and the middle-aged struggled to hold on in the narrow cracks between them. Together, they formed a society that still looked glamorous on the surface, but had long since died and was now rotting and reeking!

Bai Yang's Wish Power inadvertently became the catalyst for this society. The venom and hatred buried deep within their hearts had now thoroughly materialized into something devastatingly real.

All sins were dragged out into the open, and every latent crisis was entirely inflamed. Death and slaughter would likely become synonymous with this place for a very long time!

But equally, Bai Yang wouldn't lose out in the slightest. Because alongside the death and slaughter, there would naturally be a massive emergence of supernatural monsters and transcendent beings!

These supernatural monsters, along with the transcendent beings that would appear in the future, would provide him with a greater quantity and superior quality of supernatural Wish Power. Under these circumstances, a few casualties were perfectly acceptable.

Bai Yang did not actually care about these people's lives. Just as before, the only reason he had controlled the death toll was because they could create higher value alive.

If he found out right now that death could generate more Wish Power, more supernatural attributes, and a far stronger divine pantheon, he wouldn't mind pushing this entire world into the abyss of death!

(Having already forced a certain country into ascension, he could certainly afford to speak with such ruthlessness!)

Therefore, upon seeing those peculiar ghosts and monsters gradually emerging, Bai Yang began to entertain a few extra ideas.

"Let our transcendent being come out and take a look at the situation over here!"

The transcendent being he referred to was, of course, Cangqiao Qingci. Before those Buddhist monks returned from Kolkata, he was the sole transcendent existence.

Naturally, even when the Buddhist monks did return, Cangqiao Qingci would remain a very important transcendent being. Bai Yang still intended to push him out to rival the monks, so he certainly couldn't just abandon him.

However, he was actually a little interested in Shinto, particularly those shrine-based divine religions and the entities they worshipped in their shrines!

In this day and age, since he had already ascended the neighboring country, shouldn't he let these 'ghosts' ascend to the heavens alongside them?

Bai Yang subtly pondered his subsequent plans. Watching as Cangqiao Qingci, sensing the commotion outside, stepped out of his room, Bai Yang offered a faint smile. "Our protagonist has arrived on the scene. Let the sonata of death begin!"

In truth, the disturbance outside was not actually caused by Bai Yang, nor was it the handiwork of those supernatural monsters. Rather, it was a commotion stirred up by the prodigal sons of the Kurahashi family!

These individuals had just come to threaten Cangqiao Qingci during the day, yet they rushed back over at night to immediately cause trouble. They truly had zero regard for the so-called law, showing an incredible lack of patience.

But thinking about it, as former members of the Kazoku, would these people really care about the law? Of course not!

Therefore, they arrived armed with blades!

Indeed, could these impoverished deadbeats, coveting a piece of ancestral land, even afford to hire the Yakuza? They could barely scrounge up enough money for their own living expenses. If they wanted this place, their only option was to do it themselves.

As a result, looking at this group of masked "acquaintances" whose builds remained unmistakably familiar, Cangqiao Qingci looked somewhat exasperated. "Cousins, your waistbands are showing!"

Hearing this, the two Kurahashi family members, who were already deeply annoyed, naturally stopped pretending. They ripped the towels off their faces and shouted at Cangqiao Qingci, "We're taking this land no matter what this time! Are you going to hand it over or not?"

"If our ancestor Abe no Seimei knew he had descendants like you, what exactly do you think he would feel?" Cangqiao Qingci asked abruptly. "You are the descendants of the foremost Onmyoji. How could you stoop to doing such things?"

"So what? Only with money do you have everything! You're just guarding this land without putting it to any use, so you might as well give it to us! We can go to the underground casinos in Kyoto and win it all back! I can feel it. My luck is about to turn!"

Hearing these words, Cangqiao Qingci understood. "You owe loan sharks from the Yakuza, and you want to use the house to pay off your debts, don't you?"

The look of pity and frustration in his eyes vanished entirely, replaced by an extremely solemn and severe expression. "Since it has come to this, I have no choice but to purify the clan on behalf of Seimei, the ancestors of the Abe family, and the seniors of the Tsuchimikado and Kurahashi families!"